Micromechanical properties and thermal annealing of zinc oxide bulk ceramic

Zinc oxide has numerous commercial device applications. Polycrystalline ZnO varistors, for example, are widely used in high voltage and power-related applications in industries such as microelectronics. One of the ways to control the properties of ZnO is its annealing in various environments, including oxygen, which leads to increased hardness and fracture toughness of ceramics. Therefore, the study of micromechanical properties of materials for modern electronics is an important and vital issue, both in terms of technology for improving quality of the final product and from the point of view of prospect of its practical use. The structural properties of the ceramic samples of ZnO have been studied. The average grain size has been defined. The micromechanical properties have been studied. The temperature conditions of increasing microhardness of ZnO have been defined after annealing in an oxygen atmosphere.